In 1982, the Washington Public Power Supply System — a consortium of 28 public utilities including Seattle City Light — halted construction of four nuclear reactors at Hanford and Satsop ...

But still the riddle of Hanford remained — and the secret was kept." This time it was to supply the US with a nuclear arsenal during the Cold War. Six more reactors were built by 1955.

The White Bluffs near the Hanford Site.Greg Vaughn /VW PICS/Universal Images Group via Getty Images The area stretched along the Columbia River, covering hundreds of acres. The B Reactor was the ...

It was the last reactor basin used to cool irradiated uranium fuel to be emptied. Hanford has 13,000 workers, based on the number of current security badges, and Central Plateau employed 1,461 ...

The Hanford Site is the most polluted area in the US, though cleanup started decades ago. Estimates say it will take decades more and up to $640 billion to finish the job. The site just received ...

The reactors weren't all built at once but over a 20-year period from 1943 to 1963. Hanford produced 67 metric tons of plutonium in all. That's a little less than the weight of 10 African elephants.

But one project on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation is progressing at a much lower price. The federal government is moving forward with the “cocooning” of eight plutonium production reactors at ...

It's about 150 miles southeast of Seattle. The Columbia River passes Hanford to the north and the east by a few miles, and it's downstream from two dams. The government wanted the site to be close to ...

A major radioactive contamination threat to the Columbia River should be removed at the Hanford nuclear site before the end of summer. Hanford workers have started to pump contaminated water from ...